


Teeth

by Nixariel



Category: Rurouni Kenshin
Genre: Gals Actually Being Pals, Gen, Post-Jinchuu Arc, Road Trip!, Supernatural Elements, a.k.a. the fic I should have posted for Halloween but didn't
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-19
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-04 07:01:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12765642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nixariel/pseuds/Nixariel
Summary: Everyone has one or two things in their past that they don't want to talk about. Kaoru is no exception.(In which 'the sword that protects life' is taken more literally then intended.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> _Don't be scared._   
>  _I've done this before._   
>  _Show me your t e e t h._

When the coach pulled up to the Kamiya home, Kenshin was outside doing laundry. It was a hot day, perfect for drying bedding, and the scent of fresh sheets always made the night seem less muggy.

He heard the knock at the front gate and braced himself.

A brisk flick got the worst of the water off his hands, then he crossed the yard to slide the door open. Behind it—who else?—was a uniformed police officer.

_Of course._

Kenshin smiled, as always. "Can this one help you?" he asked politely.

"My name is Fujitani Sho," said the thin, earnest young fellow. "I'm an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department. Are you Himura Kenshin- _san_?"

_Of course._

"Yes, this one is."

"I am looking for Kamiya Kaoru- _san_. Is she here?"

_Of—what?_

"Kaoru- _dono_?" Kenshin stalled, mind whirling furiously. What could the police want with Kaoru? They already had her testimony against Wu Heishin, Enishi's criminal empire was dissolved–

"Kenshin?" Kaoru appeared from around the side of the main house, sparring bag still slung over her shoulder. She'd been scheduled to teach at the Maekawa _dojo_ today; she must have come back through the side entrance.

"Kamiya- _san_!" The officer hastily bowed. Straightening, he continued, "Nijo- _sama_ sent me. He hopes that you are well, and asks that you come see him at your earliest convenience."

She blinked. "Asks…?" Her mouth flattened. "Give me five minutes, Fujitani _-san_."

The officer bowed again, but Kaoru was already striding away.

-/-

Kenshin caught up to her at the well. She'd snagged a towel from the _dojo_ , scrubbing her face with cold water.

"Kaoru- _dono–_ "

"Sorry, Kenshin," she interrupted, "I don't know if I'll be back for supper, so go ahead and eat with Yahiko without me."

"Kaoru- _dono–_ "

"I should be back tonight, but I might have to leave again in the morning–"

"Kaoru _-dono–_ "

"–Shouldn't be gone for more than a few days, though, so if you could make sure that Yahiko does at least fifty strikes twice a day–"

" _Kaoru._ "

Whoops. He hadn't meant to take her wrist, but there it was, his fingers curled around her pulse, thumb resting in the hollow of her palm. It had been harder to remember not to touch her since the island.

 

Since _Jinchuu_.

 

Those blue, blue eyes were looking at him. Her hand had the calluses of a sword-user.

Swallowing, Kenshin let go.

(did he imagine–)  
(a flash of disappointment–)

"Kaoru- _dono_ ," he said carefully. "Is there something that this one can help with?"

 _Please. Ask me. Anything at all_.

_For you, anything._

Kaoru smiled. "It's all right, Kenshin. Nijo- _sama_ is… He's a family friend, of sorts. He knew my mother and father too." Her smile turned rueful. "I know it's terrible timing," she admitted, "but I have to do this. I wouldn't go if–" and then the _s_ _hihandai_ caught herself, biting her lip. 

_If? If what?_

Her hand reached up—almost as if to touch his face—but patted his shoulder instead. "Look after Yahiko for me?" was all Kaoru said.

"Of course."

_Anything._

She disappeared into the main house. Barely five minutes later, Kenshin watched her get into the coach, having chosen a fresh _gi_ instead of a kimono. Watched it drive away.

Then he put back the rest of the laundry, still unwashed, and left to find Sano.

He had some questions that needed answering.

_Why would Kaoru recognize an ordinary constable?_

-/-

"Kamiya? Kamiya- _san_?"

"Hm?" Kaoru answered, lost in thought. Then she shook herself, returning to the present. "Sorry, Fujitani, did you say something?"

He cocked his head, a little less the fresh-faced police officer now that they were safe from prying eyes. "The boy's the only one of your friends from Tokyo," he repeated. "Have you told them? Who you really are?"

Kaoru shifted, uncomfortable. "They would only worry. It's easier this way. Besides," she turned over her wrist, looking at the near-invisible scar just below it, "it's nice having people around who don't… wonder, sometimes."

"You're as human as I am, Kamiya _._ "

She pursed her lips. "Somehow that doesn't have quite the reassurance I think you intended," said Kaoru tartly.

Sho grinned, rubbing a similar scar on his own wrist. "And the Rose of Kenjutsu still has her thorns."

"Shut it, toothpick. I know where your desk is and the chief likes me better."

Sho grinned wider.


	2. Chapter 2

Nijo Motohiro's desk was already covered in maps when they arrived. He was a long-faced man, young enough to still be struggling with a mustache, but his eyes were cool and measuring.

He greeted them with a polite smile. "Fujitani- _san_ , efficient as always. Good to have you back, Kamiya- _san_ ; thank you for coming on such short notice."

Sho bowed.  
"It's good to be back, Nijo _-sama_ ," Kaoru answered. "Thank you for sending the coach. What's the situation?"

He made an irritated sound at the back of his throat. "Not good," he said tersely. "It's a village in Ishikawa _-ken_ , on the far side of the peninsula. Kamiozawa _-mura_. We had just managed to re-establish contact after they were lost to government authority a few years ago, but the last two men haven't come back. Worse, the next-closest village has also gone silent."

 _Ishikawa? That's…_ far _. Really far. Even Kyoto would be closer._

Something about his wording also caught Kaoru's ear. "Lost to _government_ authority?" she echoed.

Nijo grimaced. Then he looked at her sidelong, and raised an eyebrow. "A man known as Shishio Makoto took control of that area briefly; I believe you are familiar with the name?"

Now the grimace was on Kaoru's face. Misao had told her about the village she and Kenshin had passed through on their way to Kyoto, and a boy named Eiji. "Do we think–"

He lifted one hand in an equivocal motion. "It's hard to say at this point. Certainly the violence that followed that man would have contributed to a state of… restlessness. But given the absence of any large-scale factors, we're still assuming standard conditions: plague."

Kaoru nodded. "Understood."  
Did she dare? _Yes_.  
"Sir…"

Nijo's eyes flickered towards her. The  _s_ _hihandai_ took it as permission.

"Why me?"

A bald question, and Kaoru didn't let it sit long. "There must be other hunters who are closer, can get there faster…"

 _ken-shin, ken-shin,_ her heart beat.

_I've only just come home._

The man sighed heavily. "In theory, Kamiya- _san_. But we are still dealing with fallout from the rebellion in Satsuma, even after it cost us your father–"

–there was a pang in Kaoru's chest at the reminder–

"–and I've had to divert resources there as a consequence. With the Bakumatsu before that, and the shogunate…" Nijo shook his head. Almost to himself, he added, "There are always so few of us. We are spread too thin."

He met her gaze full-on, a hint of true regret colouring his voice. "I am sorry, Kamiya- _san_."

Kaoru bowed her neck.

"We can get you to Toyama," he continued, numbers and logistics flickering behind his eyes as he turned back to the maps in front of him. "There, a boat will be waiting to take you as far as Anamizu."

Nijo glanced up again. "After that, Kamiya- _san_ , I'm afraid you're on your own."

Standard conditions, standard procedure.

She almost nodded again—until a stray thought caught her halfway. "If I may, Nijo- _s_ _ama_ ," said Kaoru slowly, a small quirk to her lips, "perhaps not _quite_ on my own."

-/-

A few hours later, in Kyoto, Misao unfolded a thin slip of paper in the privacy of the Aoiya's kitchen. She read through it twice, memorizing the contents before tossing it into the fire.

A very polite young policeman had stopped her in the market to deliver the telegraph.

Misao nodded to herself, turning on her heel. She was the _okashira_ of the Oniwabanshu now; she had to make plans instead of just taking off like she used to. At least her kit was still packed.

Okina was upstairs playing Go with Aoshi. She popped her head in the door, smiling brightly, bag slung discretely over her hidden shoulder.

"Jiya, Aoshi- _sa_ – Aoshi." That was proving to be a hard habit to shake. Yet leaders did _not_ address subordinates as higher in status. "I'm going to be away for a few days. Jiya's in charge until I get back. Aoshi, don't let him work too hard!"

"Wait–"  
"Misao- _chan–_ "

Yes, an _okashira_ had to make plans—which today consisted of moving too fast for worrywart ninjas to follow. Aoshi and Okina would be tied here by her orders; they'd have to send someone else if they wanted her followed.

And that, Misao thought smugly, would be pretty damn difficult where she was going. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> - _ken_ : prefecture  
> - _mura_ : village; although Kamiozawa is formally known as Kamiozawa- _machi_ (town) today, I took the liberty of downgrading it to a village in Meiji times. (It wasn't much of a liberty; the place is still small enough that I couldn't even find population stats in the latest national census.)  
>  _shihandai_ or _shihan-dai_ : assistant instructor, Kaoru's official title as she is not (yet) recognized as a master of her style
> 
> Personal headcanon that leadership of the Oniwabanshu never returned to Aoshi for various reasons. Also, he was wearing a version of Misao's trademark buttbow in his next manga appearance. New uniform for the new boss? I think so.


	3. Chapter 3

Kaoru knew it wasn't going to be easy. She thought, all through the carriage ride back, about how she was going to explain this to the others.

Sano would bluster, whatever she said. Megumi would make some foxy remark and then corner her later. Yahiko…

Yahiko would bluster too, but behind it would be the fear of a boy who'd been abandoned too many times.

 _Oh, Yahiko_. Her brother-son, her precious student.

She had rushed his training, letting him go with Kenshin and Sano to fights even she accepted as—not _beyond_ her, exactly, but better for everyone ( _Kenshin_ ) if she stayed out of it. Yet Yahiko was so gifted, and it meant so much to him, that Kaoru never had the heart to say no. As long as Kenshin was there in her place.

 _Kenshin_. He would be almost as bad as Yahiko. His eyes would shutter behind the mask of a pleasant smile and somehow every piece of dirty laundry in the house would mysteriously become clean overnight. All the while, Kaoru would _feel_ the quiet worry radiating from him.

But it couldn't be helped this time. She had to go.

She had a duty.

-/-

Sano, surprisingly, wasn't there for supper that evening. Megumi had been called to the clinic and Yahiko was going to drop off a _bento_ for her on his way to walk Tsubame home from the Akabeko.

Just her, Kenshin, and Yahiko tonight.

The meal was quiet, aside from the sounds of Yahiko chewing. Kaoru could see another growth spurt coming from the sheer volume of food he inhaled. It made her want to ruffle his hair and call him 'Yahiko- _chan_ ', just to make sure he wasn't growing up too fast.

She settled for smiling at Kenshin and flicking a knowing glance at the oblivious boy.

Kenshin's answering smile was strained.

 _Damn_.

Still, she waited until Yahiko had slowed down enough to actually chew. If he got upset enough to stalk off and stew, at least he'd do it on a full belly.

 _Do it fast. Like jumping into cold water_.

"It will be just you two here for the next while," announced Kaoru. "I have to leave tomorrow for a trip. I'll be gone for at least two weeks, maybe longer."

Yahiko slurped the rest of his soup and belched. "But we just got back," he complained, attention more on the rice he eyed as if contemplating a third bowl than on his master. "Can't it wait until my good sandals dry out? They still smell like fish no matter how much I wash 'em."

" _Manners_ , Yahiko. And your shoes can wait as long as you like because you're not coming."

That made him look up. "Kaoru–!"

"Neither is Kenshin," Kaoru plowed right on over him, "or anybody else. I have some family obligations to attend to and I don't need an escort."

"What 'family obligations'?" Yahiko demanded. "You don't have–" The boy froze, mouth clamping shut with an audible _snap!_ as he realized how close he'd come to saying what even Megumi shied away from prodding.

Kaoru sighed and thwapped him upside the head—but gently. Relatively speaking. "I am not the only Kamiya in Japan, Yahiko- ** _chan_** ," the  _s_ _hihandai_ pointed out, just this side of tart. "I'm not even the only Kamiya in Tokyo. There's been a death and I was asked to come."

All true, if completely unconnected. There were other Kamiyas in Tokyo, yes—but they wouldn't tell her the sky was blue, much less if someone had died.

Her father had preferred it that way. So did Kaoru, after her mother's death.  
Her mother never said anything one way or the other while she was alive. Just hugged Kaoru, and held her tight.

"Kaoru- _dono_ , you've never said anything about having family in Tokyo."  
Kenshin had finally joined the conversation.

 _Well, good_. She'd have to deal with him sooner or later.

"They're distant relatives"—not _quite_ true, her father had had two older brothers, both with children by the time Kaoru was born—"and they never got along with my father anyway." Not for the last seventeen years, at least.

 _So why go?_ she could almost hear Kenshin ask. His blue-purple eyes were soft on her.  
She didn't want to look at him.

"But he is dead now."

And _oh_ , how saying it still hurt. For an instant she was back in a cold, empty _dojo_ , surrounded by words that rang hollow without her father's booming voice behind them.

It's that coldness that bleeds through when Kaoru tells them, "This isn't up for discussion. Yahiko, you're to do a hundred strikes twice a day at least. Other than that, it's _your_ job, not Kenshin's, to keep the _dojo_ clean."

A cheap trick, bringing up her father like that.

But Kenshin knew it was a sore spot. He wouldn't press her about the trip anymore.

 

She was suddenly very tired.

 

Kaoru stood up, taking her dishes with her.

"Thank you for the meal, Kenshin. I'll leave money in the pantry for food and anything else while I'm gone. Otherwise, goodnight. I have to be up early tomorrow."

There was silence behind her as she padded into the kitchen, put her dishes in the washing basin, and went to her room.

-/-

Kenshin was up to see her off, of course. No matter how early she got up, he always seemed to be there before her. Usually she found it endearing.

He even had tea waiting, and _onigiri_ wrapped to take with her. Damn him.

Kaoru mustered up a smile even though she'd rather do anything but.

Kenshin didn't smile back. He just looked at her, and Kaoru felt something in her chest twist. She _wanted_ to tell him the truth, damn it.

But it was too dangerous. He'd politely ask to come with her, in that way of his that was worse than any demand, and she'd get so turned around from all the 'this ones' and 'that it is-es' and 'oros' that somehow she'd find herself taking him along with no clear memory of having ever said _yes_.

Then, near inevitably, he would die—and she would have to kill him.

Misao had been so very lucky.

"Kaoru- _dono_ ," Kenshin said quietly, "is there someth–"

A _shoji_ slamming open broke the stillness.

Yahiko stood revealed in its wake, bed-head in rare form.

"Hey, _Ugly_!"

And the scowl Kaoru wore now required little-to-no effort.

"Yahiko- ** _chan_**."

He ignored the jab, pointing his _shinai_ at her.

"You said two weeks. That's a promise from master to student, so you better keep it, all right?"

Kaoru sucked in an indignant breath. "I _said_ –"  
–but she was cut off as Yahiko lunged forward, half-hugging, half-tackling her, head digging into her stomach.

Fighting back a sudden burning in her eyes, Kaoru wrapped her arms around the boy's back and pressed her cheek to his tangled, sleep-mussed hair—that did still smell just a little like fish.

"All right," she said. "Two weeks. I promise."

Those wiry arms stayed tight around her for another minute while Kaoru rubbed circles on his back. If Yahiko's own eyes were wet as he pulled away, she pretended not to notice.

Leaving her hands on his shoulders, Kaoru looked at her student firmly. "But as a promise from student to master: hundred strikes. Twice a day. No excuses."

"Yeah, sure," he muttered. Kaoru smiled at her grumpy-old-man of a pupil. She could hear the dedication in his voice, even if he'd suffer a thousand 'Yahiko- _chan_ s' before admitting it.

Turning to reach out to Kenshin, include him, Kaoru found the _rurouni_ instead looking at her.

She blushed without knowing why.

But it was a real smile she could give him now, and that made speaking easier.

"Kenshin," was all Kaoru needed to say.

He nodded.

Kamiya Kasshin Ryu was Kaoru's heart, even if a red-haired wanderer had stolen an awfully large chunk of it, and the heart of every sword style was its students. The sole apprentice of his own master, Kenshin knew that as well as she. 

Yahiko would be well cared for while she was gone.

Kaoru hefted her bag over her shoulder, Kenshin's _onigiri_ safely tucked inside. "I'm leaving now. I'll be back in two weeks."

"You better," added Yahiko fiercely.

"Have a safe trip, Kaoru- _dono_."

A final wave, and she was out the main gate. The coach from before was to be waiting for her around the next corner.

Inside the Kamiya grounds, Yahiko looked up at Kenshin. "If she's just travelling to a funeral, why's she wearing her  _hakama_?"

Kenshin didn't answer. He'd seen armguards in Kaoru's bag when she'd put the _onigiri_ in.

He hoped Sano would be back with answers soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be a reckoning.
> 
>  _bento_ : packaged meal, usually with multiple components, comes in its own special box that is also called _bento_.  
>  _shihandai_ or _shihan-dai_ : assistant instructor, Kaoru's official title as she is not (yet) recognized as a master of her style.  
>  _onigiri_ : handmade rice ball, often triangular, wrapped in dried seaweed. Can have a variety of fillings. Very tasty, good travel food.  
>  _shoji_ : sliding wooden lattice doors with a covering of translucent rice paper.  
>  _hakama_ : traditional loose pants that tie at the waist. Used as the bottom half of a _kendo gi_ , among others.


	4. Chapter 4

There was a surprise waiting for Kaoru inside the carriage.

"Yo, Kamiya- _san_ ," said Fujitani Sho. "Long time no see."

She dropped her bag on the opposite seat. A jolt came through the floor as the horses started to pull away, making Kaoru sit next to her things a little harder than intended.

"What are you doing here?" the  _shihandai_ demanded.

"Enjoying a lovely trip to the booming metropolis of Kamiozawa." A glint of amusement lit his eyes. "Nice to see you too, kendo _-jou_."

Kaoru ignored the gibe. "You don't do field work."

Sho shrugged. "I am branching out in new directions, exploring exciting new career opportunities."

Unimpressed, Kaoru shot him A Look. Then her face softened. "Sho," she repeated, "you don't _do_ field work."

Silence filled the coach's interior.

Mouth suddenly twisting, Sho looked out the window.  
 

Hiding his expression.  
 

"Can't a dashing young police officer help out an old friend?" he asked offhand.

_Not when it frightens you so_ , Kaoru thought, but held her tongue.

And waited.

Sho's leg bounced once, twice. Abruptly he shifted back.

"Look, that area's practically my own home town." The man tried to throw a grin at her. "I know all the good spots."

It bounced off Kaoru's impassive stare. "You're from Yokohama," she said flatly. "Where you got lost trying to find the fish market."

"Details, details."

Kaoru waited.

 

Sho slumped back into his seat. Raising his gaze to the ceiling, he gave a theatrical sigh. "There's no trust anymore, that's what this is. All because a fellow tries to be helpful…" 

Then, finally, Kaoru's friend met her eyes.

"Nijo- _sama_ was right," admitted Sho. "We are spread too thin. This should have been a two-person job, but all you've got is some barely-blooded spark from Kyoto."

"I trust Misao–"

"She's not clan, Kaoru," he cut in, sitting up straight. The twist in his mouth was back and it looked a lot like _guilt_. "Your father might have left the Kamiyas but that's where he was trained, and how he trained you. You need someone to watch your back."

Kaoru's voice was soft. "I've run missions on my own before, Sho." Money had been tight without a resident master for Kamiya Kasshin Ryu, even before the Hirumas started scaring off her students with their fake Battousai. Taking Nijo- _sama_ 's assignments had meant fish with supper instead of endless tofu, or plain rice.

She'd also appreciated the distraction.

A snort escaped him. "Yeah, and don't think your father wouldn't've beaten me black and blue if he knew I'd given you those hunts."

"I know the risks."

'No, you don't!" he exploded. "Or you wouldn't have gone and _died_ on me!"

 

Silence gripped the carriage again.

Kaoru squeezed her hands into fists, trying not to let them shake. Some days she felt sorry for Enishi; some days she wanted to show him exactly how painful a non-killing style could be.

 

Sho was back to staring out the window. "I missed the funeral," he said. "One of the other constables in my unit has a brother-in-law who lives in your district. I heard what happened while we were out having a drink."

There was a horrible tonelessness to the words that made something inside the _shihandai_ shrivel up.

"You didn't miss anything"—and Kaoru was proud of how her voice didn't tremble, not one bit—"because I _didn't die_."

Sho said, almost too quietly to hear: "Sure fooled me."

"I am not going to die on you. Or anyone else, for that matter," she insisted.  
 

( _ken-shin_ , _ken-shin_ , beat her heart. _ya-hi-ko._ )  
 

Now it was Sho's turn to shoot a dry look. "Forgive me for wanting to be sure."

"Sho–"

"And you can't actually get rid of me, you know," he continued. "I've cleared it with Nijo- _sama_ and the driver has orders to pull over if you throw me out the door."

Not that she had really been thinking about doing that.

At least, not seriously _._

Still, old protests welled up in her throat as Kaoru eyed the uncompromising wall of his face.

_But you hate this._  
_But it's everything you left behind._  
_I remember your nightmares; I know why you have them._

__

__

_I don't want you to hurt yourself for me._

"Do you think you're ready?" she asked instead.

One hand twitched towards his wrist. Sho turned it into a shrug, deliberately casual. "It's been, what, almost ten years now? Plenty of time." He smiled, a thin curve that was worse than the stoniness. "You just watch your front, kendo- _jou_ , and I'll take care of mine."

Kaoru huffed, making sure he saw how she rolled her eyes. "You're such a brat, Fujitani."

"Takes one to know one, Kamiya," he retorted.

And just like that, the balance was restored.

-/-

Sano returned in time for breakfast—or at least, when breakfast would have been had the Kamiya household not been up before the sun. As it was, he munched on leftover rice while sharing the information he'd gathered with Kenshin.

Yahiko was supposed to be doing his hundred strikes in the _dojo_ , but Kenshin could feel a bright candle of _ki_ hanging just around the corner. Nor was he about to bet on the boy leaving earshot anytime soon; not until Kaoru came back or they went to find her. 

They'd all been reluctant to go too far from Kaoru in those first few days of having her back—and not even Megumi bothered overmuch with excuses. Kenshin, a grown man with no blood connection to the unmarried woman with whom he lived unchaperoned, had made himself be content with tracking the steady blaze that was Kaoru's spirit as she moved through house and market. Yahiko, though… He barely let Kaoru out of his sight for a full two weeks after their return from the island.

Once or twice— _never_ when Kaoru was watching—there'd been a look in the ten-year-old's eyes that made Kenshin wonder. Had something else happened before Tsubame pulled him from Rakunin- _mura_?

Yet that wasn't what held Kenshin back from calling Yahiko out to sit with him and Sano openly. He couldn't exactly say why, but from the moment that officer had asked for Kaoru instead, a certain cold unease had curled low in Kenshin's stomach.

He wasn't sure he wanted Yahiko involved.  
He wasn't sure it was safe.

"Turns out," the rangy young man said between bites, "the Kamiyas are a bigger deal than Jou- _chan_ ever let on. They've got a full-on family compound in one of the nicer districts. Whole clan lives there, they've expanded more than once, but no one ever leaves. 'Cept Kaoru's dad, I guess."

A slurp of tea.

"And that's all anybody really wants to say. Some old geezer in this one bar kept rambling on about 'demon blood' and 'evil spirits', but you know how some people can get about Jou- _chan_ 's eyes. Oh," Sano added as an afterthought, "turns out they all have that, actually. Blue-eyed, every one of them."

Another slurp, this time of soup.

"But the really weird thing was the way people talked about them. Never any details, but a whole lot of respect. Even gratitude, more from the older folk, though no one would ever say what for. They clammed up even worse when I started asking about Jou- _chan_ specifically."

Sano tapped his chopsticks on the rim of his bowl thoughtfully. "I stopped in at this ramen place on my way back. Good food, just won't sell anything with pork. Woman owner. She said she'd heard I was asking about the Kamiyas, and Kaoru in particular." He paused, recalling the near-warning edge that had come into her voice after he said yes. "She told me, 'To speak of ghosts is to invite their hunger.' Then she wouldn't say another word except how much I owed for the bowl.

Kenshin smoothed invisible wrinkles in his _hakama_ , thinking. "And this Nijo- _dono_?"

Sano's brows rose as he looked at Kenshin sidelong. "'Nijo- _dono_ ' is Nijo Motohiro, son of Kujo Hisatada and adopted by Nijo Nariyuki, both of 'em _kugyo_. He's only some middling government flunky right now, but everybody expects him to follow his old man's footsteps to the top. Also, exactly what he's flunky-ing in, no one's quite sure. Fujitani is technically with the police—his unit is stationed in the same district as that Kamiya place—but he's pretty near permanently seconded to work for Nijo. Nobody really knows where _he_ came from, except," and here Sano paused significantly, "that Kamiya Koshijiro recommended him to the force."

He let that sit in the air.

In his mind, Kenshin turned over these revelations, trying to fit them together. A mysterious clan, strange rumours, former Kyoto-court nobles with the emperor's ear and bloodlines dating back over a thousand years… all tied to one bright-eyed _shihandai_ of a little-known second generation sword style.

_To speak of ghosts is to invite their hunger…_

"Kenshin, these are _big people_ ," Sano finally said, unknowingly echoing his friend's thoughts. "What's our little Jou- _chan_ doing mixed up with them?"

He didn't know.

"I don't know," the redhead answered, and Sano glanced at him sharply. Whatever the young man saw was enough to bring the edge of a grin to his face. "But this one will start by talking to Nijo- _dono_ , that he will."

Then Kenshin remembered the young boy listening just out of sight and that off feeling flared up his spine again.

_-Look after Yahiko for me? -_

_(Anything.)_

"Sano," he asked, quieter this time. "Could you do me a favour?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _kendo-jou_ : literally 'kendo-girl'. A nickname, similar to Sano's ' _jou-chan_ ' (often translated as 'Missie').  
>  _ki_ : spirit, life-force, energy. Martial artists (or just those who get thrown into a lot of dangerous situations and repeatedly manage to survive. Imminent death sharpens the mind wonderfully) and spiritually-trained people often develop a sense for it. Important.  
>  _hakama_ : traditional loose pants that tie at the waist. Used as the bottom half of a kendo gi, among others. More commonly worn by men.  
>  _kugyo_ : a very small group of men who occupied the most powerful positions of government in pre-Meiji Japan. Generally selected from the highest-ranking clans such as the Fujiwara, of which the Nijo family was a branch. Direct advisors to the Emperor.


End file.
